OK, one more, then we gotta get the mood turned around… Don’t want to be thinking about this shit before turning in…LoL
Why don’t these younger generations pull themselves up by the boot straps like I did
- Thread starter BurtG
- Start date
All the knowledge, tools, and information one could ever hope to have access to, fits in the palm of your hand, and everyone carries it everywhere with them. Instead of using it to amass knowledge and skills, they use it to post pictures seeking validation from strangers they'll never meet, watch pointless time wasting videos, and scroll endlessly on whatever social media app they choose to. People write blogs and do vlogs using a phone, and put $100 in the stock markets, showing step by step how they turned $100 into a large investment portfolio generating passive income on their phone, but people choose to waste their time. Find whatever statistics, numbers, or opinions you want that support your position on how it's this generations fault, or that generations fault. The problem is that the overwhelming majority of people are just lazy, and prefer to take the easiest path, which is the path of the victim. I'm not a home owner because of boomers, or capitalism, or Trump. I'm broke because business owners are greedy and don't want the pay a living wage, ect. Most people just don't want to hussle, because it's so much easier to sit and watch netflix and blame someone, or something else for why you aren't living the life you want. Sit back and place blame....it seems to be working out so well for everyone else doing it.
Thanks dad.
What if I told you I’m doing the same thing? I run a blade as a side job to make ends meet as well. And my wife has a full time job as well.
What if I told you it didn’t use to be this way.
While I agree with what your saying in principle, It still shouldn't be this way. You shouldn't have to have a side hustle or be a day trader to be able to make ends meet. My mom was a stay at home mom and my dad worked at a pallet shop when I was a kid. Pretty sure you couldn't by a house and raise a family on any job like that now. I am millennia, I've fucking seen inflation in real time. I also have had the good fortune to be able to by a house when rates where low before covid popped off. My house has sense doubled in value in the past 5 years. Get the fuck out of here, I live in a modest house 3/2 1200sf. Bought just under 200k and worth around 400k I haven't done a thing to it. So on todays rates and value I couldn't even get approved to buy the same house now.
While I agree alot of people suck and are lazy. Still doesn't change the math. All because your 401k followed the rate they print money doesn't mean the younger generations have the same opportunities now. I currently have a good job and the wife still works while taking care of the kids. We are still doing fine. But I have seen inflation take a chunk out of what we should be able to save. I mean just my insurance has nearly doubled in the past 5 years. I currently pay about the same as my mortgage for a family plan.
Shits fucked
Have you learned a new language using unlimited data connectivity and an app on your phone?
I sure haven’t, and remain as dumb as ever
As a matter of fact, I’m posting all this dumb s**t on the Hide right now
If you go back far enough, there was a time where every member of the family would work to just be poor. Kids barely getting an elementary education before leaving school to get a job in a factory, or mine, to help ensure the family has a small amount of food on the table, and a shitty roof over their heads. We're a long way from that. You're not entitled to the life they had in the 50's. The government has printed money to build the $29T economy we had in 2024. Government has spent trillions building the infrastructure that we have today that gives us access to anything and everything that we need, or want, with free prime 2 day shipping. You don't spend that kind of money without the hens coming home to roost at some point. If you can't afford to buy a new home because of the price, ok, build it yourself, building materials are roughly 30-35% of the cost of the house according to my neighbor that builds houses for a living. My biological father built his house himself largely. There were aspects of it that contractors were hired for, but he built most of the place himself.
I'm not trying to be a dick and say you suck at life, or take shots at anyones life experience. I'm saying that you gotta live in this world that it is today, or it's gonna pass you up and leave you in the dust, without a second thought. There is absolutely zero chance that we are going to go back to the type of era where a man could have a entry level job, and own a house, raise a family with a stay at home mom, and have 2 cars. It's just not going to happen. So if you're just holding on, hoping that maybe the world will adjust, you're in for a very rough ride with no payoff at the end, i'm sorry.
I've never been good at language, I barely passed the required foreign language courses in middle school. I suppose it would be very different for me, if there was more necessity. I have family in switzerland, they speak many languages. I think my cousins speak 4, my aunt 7, and my uncle who has the biggest ego on the damn planet. If his head were a little larger, you'd be able to see the top of it just over the horizon from the east coast. He apparently speaks everything, like 12 or 13, something like that. I speak the only one that matters (english) and i'm dabbling in sarcasm...my 17 year old is fluent in sarcasm, as well as shit talking, i'm just trying to communicate with her.
Languages was an incidental topic.
I’m trying to talk about what you have personally accomplished with your phone (or tablet, or computer), with all the tools and information it grants us access to, in the palms of our hands.
A lot of time is spent in these conversations discussing the overall disappointment that comes from expectations not being met. That's not to say that some of the points are not valid, they certainly are. But there also has to be a recognition of facts, as @Short-bus alluded to. It's only through the acceptance of facts can wise decisions be made for the future of an individual and those they are responsible for.
Most men instinctively know their job is to provide for and protect their family. The inability to do that the way he wants wears him down. The brutal reality is that we have entered a time where those wants need to be matched to reality and common sense for most. To not do that is to endanger your future and the futures of your loved on further.
Inflation is going to continue. The dollar will buy less. The economy is in recession. Jobs are becoming hard to come by. Those are the facts.
At the same time I see people on TT bitching about 8-5 jobs, not having any spare time during the day, never being grateful they have a job, griping about their moronically high credit card debts, etc. And then I think about the people who endured the Great Depression and before. Especially everyone from the 1700's and earlier. Those people had no choice and lived through it. We had better figure out real quick that the availability of choices among many are getting thinner, and this is the end result for any non-backed paper currency and high debt levels, both public and private.
Ecclesiastes 9:12 " As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them." This one can be seen from a ways away and should not be unexpected.
Just my opinion.
Most men instinctively know their job is to provide for and protect their family. The inability to do that the way he wants wears him down. The brutal reality is that we have entered a time where those wants need to be matched to reality and common sense for most. To not do that is to endanger your future and the futures of your loved on further.
Inflation is going to continue. The dollar will buy less. The economy is in recession. Jobs are becoming hard to come by. Those are the facts.
At the same time I see people on TT bitching about 8-5 jobs, not having any spare time during the day, never being grateful they have a job, griping about their moronically high credit card debts, etc. And then I think about the people who endured the Great Depression and before. Especially everyone from the 1700's and earlier. Those people had no choice and lived through it. We had better figure out real quick that the availability of choices among many are getting thinner, and this is the end result for any non-backed paper currency and high debt levels, both public and private.
Ecclesiastes 9:12 " As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them." This one can be seen from a ways away and should not be unexpected.
Just my opinion.
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I agree, it shouldn't be this way, but it is. We can spend a lifetime discussing what caused it, and how to fix it, but the more immediate thing we can all benefit from, is adapting to it to make things better for us now. There are people who are benefiting greatly from making it what it is, and they aren't going to be down with destroying their cash cow.
For me, i've learned new techniques and methods to improve at my day job as a gun painter. I've learned how to invest smarter, and generate higher returns than the S&P 500 average (so far, high risk, high rewards, as well as rapid losses. Trying to wrap my mind around options trading, but I don't think my room temperature IQ will allow me to understand it), learned how to disassemble firearms, repair them, fiberglass repair, carbon fiber parts manufacturing. I'm using it to learn to weld, refine gold, can food, remodel a bathroom, fix plumbing, build a shed.
All the things i'm actively seeking to learn are benefitting me in one way or another. There are plenty of other things i've learned that have little benefit to me other than to cure my curiosity. i'm particularly fascinated by turbo pumps on rocket motors, and 2 stroke diesel engines.
Your mileage may vary, i've been happy with mine.
Good for you.
They sound more like hobbies and side - hustles rather than true bread - winners.
Can you earn a living based on what you’ve extracted from your phone alone?
Now, how about people not as sharp or facile?
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Yes I was so lucky in 1980 at 20 years old making 5.50 an hour to buy a house at 16% interest. Also driving ten year old cars fixing them weekly, working OT to make ends meet, watching rabbit ear TV, one weeks vacation maybe, eating out once a month.
While todays youth drive 80K diesel trucks with 1000 dollar payments, phones with 100 dollar a month plans, every TV subscription available, vacation 2-3 times a year, eat out daily
While todays youth drive 80K diesel trucks with 1000 dollar payments, phones with 100 dollar a month plans, every TV subscription available, vacation 2-3 times a year, eat out daily
Let’s say your wife’s illness killed her, and wiped out all your retirement savings in the process.
And let’s be generous - you’re a well - educated 60 year old in good shape, who’s kept up with the times, who has the advantage of years of knowledge and experience.
Do you think you’ll be able to start from scratch, competing with the present “stupid, lazy generation?”
[MISSION START]
[EQUIPMENT Smartphone with Unlimited Data Plan]
[ENTER PLAYERS]
[1 PLAYER]
[2 PLAYERS Select Option New Wife]
[QUIT Because, face it - we just like thinking how much better we are than the present generation]
And let’s be generous - you’re a well - educated 60 year old in good shape, who’s kept up with the times, who has the advantage of years of knowledge and experience.
Do you think you’ll be able to start from scratch, competing with the present “stupid, lazy generation?”
[MISSION START]
[EQUIPMENT Smartphone with Unlimited Data Plan]
[ENTER PLAYERS]
[1 PLAYER]
[2 PLAYERS Select Option New Wife]
[QUIT Because, face it - we just like thinking how much better we are than the present generation]
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No offense was taken, I again agree with most of what was stated. This world is much different and we are not going to be going back to the way things use to be. At least not for a long time...Germany was pretty shitty after WW1 but all that changed pretty quick with one guy no one likes. Not saying he was good guy, just using it as an example of how fast social and economic change can occur.
The idea of building your own house to safe money only works if you have enough capital saved to do it all at once. You can not get a construction loan and act as the GC yourself. So stick building with a contractor isnt gonna safe you anything. Also the cost of land these days in an desirable area is crazy high.
I make 140 a year, speak 2 languages, one of which is self taught, own my own house, taught myself how to build a nicer one, and am going back to college to increase my marketability.
I am not bitching for myself. I am bitching for my friends who have busted their ass and have nowhere near my level of opportunity.
And just FYI, I feel the pinch now more than when I was making 60k in 2015
I am not bitching for myself. I am bitching for my friends who have busted their ass and have nowhere near my level of opportunity.
And just FYI, I feel the pinch now more than when I was making 60k in 2015
Yes you where lucky your dollar went alot further then today, so all the hard work and effort you put in paid off.
Its like @BurtG said you guys just don't seem to math too well. I talk to my dad about this kinda stuff all the time pre covid I was just a whinner. 6 years post covid and all the money printing that's happen and now he's starting to see it. I live just like you did in the 80's, my dollar just doesnt get me as much.
Sure everyone can do more, work harder, learn a new skill but when the gobment keeps spending your taxes, printing more money, exporting jobs, it kinda makes for a sour taste when all that extra work just went to cover the same bills you had last year.
Extra work, side jobs, and things of those nature should be used to get ahead not make ends meet which is where most people are now. Work extra just to pay for rent and food.
Im not complaining at all, Im living alright but that doesn't mean I dont know people that are struggling that weren't just a few years back.
bitching kids pay for a cellphone, times changed many jobs require you have one because everything is linked to your phone and even my grandparents house phone runs off the cell network it’s 2025 not 1975.
So 10 years ago you were 20? correct? If you are 40-50 minus ten years and were 30-40 what did you do for 20 years in between ? I understand times are different but people keep saying I shouldn't have to have a side hustle to make ends meet, yet most of us have had to do something besides our day jobs to get where we are. Honestly I was retired 8 years and became bored so I went back to work to learn CNC machining at a very large company. First literally no one wants to work, if they do they want 30 an hour and they refuse to work OT. They call off once a week, bitch the entire time, constantly want more money, play on their phones half the day.
All my kids 43, 41, 38 have worked and bought their own homes without me contributing a dime and I am far from the sharpest tool in the shed, they are working with those genes. Instead of whining they worked hard looked forward and succeeded.
That is supposedly what your bullshit “$6K week equivalent” means, unicorn herder.
Judas priest, looking at all the folks that “liked” your rebuttal, I’m seriously questioning the mean IQ around here.
Don’t blow smoke up my ass, then tell me you're not gay.
With funny money numbers like those I’m starting to wonder about your heritage. “You doth protest too much”……
This is one reason we will have inflation continue.
Yes, my only job is painting guns, not a side hustle. Fiberglass repair, painting techniques, welding, firearm disassembly/reassembly/repair, I use to augment my job because they're skills valuable to me frequently. Some of the other stuff is just personal interest learning, not looking to make money doing it, as much as save money by doing the work myself.
People not as sharp....i'm about as low IQ as you can get before the state gives benefits, i've been huffin' paint a long time, I put the 'tard in retard.
Don't quote me, because i'm not double checking what I believe to be the case here, so i'm don't take what i'm saying without double checking to make sure i'm not remembering this incorrectly.
Milton Freidman talked about how the only thing that causes inflation is the government printing money, or our case the central bank. Is the central bank printing money and buying bonds?
The bond markets are hot right now, a lot of investors I follow are talking about it, and saying the time to buy into the bond market is now because the fed lowered the rates, and has signaled they're going to do 2 more rate cuts this year. I was wondering if they were going to do a quarter or half percent cut, he went with a quarter. I'm looking for more yield than bonds, and i'm young enough to accept the risk. In 10 to 15 years i'm sure i'll be moving more and more into bond markets as I get closer to retirement, and i'm looking to de-risk my portfolio.
I have to wonder, if the government just suddenly said that minimum wage nationwide was now $30/hr. Wouldn't that be inflationary? Labor costs across the country suddenly, and dramatically, higher across the board. Manufacturers have to re-price their goods and services to compensate for the higher labor costs, taxes would go up, tax revenue would increase, but so would expenditures. If you were making $30/hr now, and federal minimum wage went up to $30.....would employers adjust your pay to account for the new minimum wage rate? I doubt it.
sorry my dude. Im trying the boomer thing of just slaving away more and earning less. Never getting ahead of the rat race.Please, more of you start day trading!
It will help increase my bonus for next year.
Anyone of working age who hasn’t at least tripled their net worth since 2020 has missed the boat.
This goes for all the existing generations.
Seniors are going to get wrecked when it’s time to get put in assisted living. $7,000+per month. I started buying into senior living facilities in 2024. I’ll tell them to cut back on the avocado toast when they don’t make their payments on time.
There is so much money out there. I mean, retards tip clothing stores now! Just tons of money.
S&P is $178 higher from year lows. Just buying into the S&P would have you smoking inflation.
Look at all the retards that waited for rates to come down to buy a home just to watch prices go up 50%-100%. Dumb.
Precious metals going to the moon.
Bitcoin over $100,000
People do dumb shit with their money like not invest or buy assets. Buy assets, and invest.
Summary: Stop fucking around and start investing and buying assets. Today. Right now.
This goes for all the existing generations.
Seniors are going to get wrecked when it’s time to get put in assisted living. $7,000+per month. I started buying into senior living facilities in 2024. I’ll tell them to cut back on the avocado toast when they don’t make their payments on time.
There is so much money out there. I mean, retards tip clothing stores now! Just tons of money.
S&P is $178 higher from year lows. Just buying into the S&P would have you smoking inflation.
Look at all the retards that waited for rates to come down to buy a home just to watch prices go up 50%-100%. Dumb.
Precious metals going to the moon.
Bitcoin over $100,000
People do dumb shit with their money like not invest or buy assets. Buy assets, and invest.
Summary: Stop fucking around and start investing and buying assets. Today. Right now.
There are two ways that money gets created: via the government printing press and via the banks through lending (fractional reserve). Banks creating money is the bigger avenue.
Oversimplified version of what banks do: I take one dollar and put it in a bank. They then lend it out to someone wanting a loan. The person then puts it in the same or another bank. That bank then lends it out. One dollar went to more than that. Only one really exists. See the problem? This is how the private banking system creates money via the fractional reserve system. Someone will come on and say that this is incorrect due to the fact that they may not lend out the whole amount of the dollar, but it really doesn't matter. As time goes on there isn't enough of the dollar to spread around to everyone who has a claim on it or parts of it. This is just meant to be a super simple explanation of what's going on worldwide with the paper (fiat) money system. There is WAY less actual money out there than there are claims (debt) on it. As in TRILLIONS. Add to that the fact that the dollar isn't backed by anything, zero. Current M2 money supply is $22T. Total government debt is $37T, but doesn't include unfunded liabilities is over $192T. Add those two together and you get a serious problem. But then add total private debt and you get another $38T. Finally, financial sector debt is estimated to be 1$00-200T. So total exposure is $360-$460T, and that is conservative. Aint no way $22T that is backed by nothing can cover that, even if the dollar was backed by something real other than a promise.
California is a prime example of what happens when minimum wages are raised - businesses fail and people get laid off. It will find an equilibrium over time, but you would find the people that are broke now through financial foolishness will still be broke then and wanting another minimum wage hike.
What does all this mean? BFC is right, assets (wisely purchased, obviously) is the way to go.
Early millennials should be absolutely loaded right now. You had the GFC and the 20 day Covid crash to absolutely anchor generational wealth for cheap.
Gen-x should be doing better.
Late millenials at least had the covid crash as a 10 year rewind on stonk prices to snag generational wealth.
Gen-Z is fucked as of now. Hopefully they get a chance.
Gen-x should be doing better.
Late millenials at least had the covid crash as a 10 year rewind on stonk prices to snag generational wealth.
Gen-Z is fucked as of now. Hopefully they get a chance.
If you use minimum wage as any type of metric in a discussion about economics and employment, you aren’t bringing anything really relevant to the picture, because minimum wage earners are barely 1% of all job-holders.
Minimum wage jobs are for high school and college kids, so temporary employment situations while going to school where they can learn some kind of work ethic, get in the habit of showing up on time, doing their jobs, and seeing some income from it.
It isn’t something you think of as suitable for living or providing for a family, which about 99% of the workforce all understand.
It’s something I remember anytime the topic of minimum wage is brought up.
For the value of gold, which isn’t something I personally care much about, I would compare median household income in then years.
ETA: I see you ran the numbers for other income bases.
For discussions about gold, just remember we don’t buy houses, appliances, cars, food, etc. with gold, so it isn’t a great metric for understanding wages vs expenses.
2025: 22.884 ounces of gold with the median income of $83,730, and gold price of $3,658.8.
1968: median income: $7,700. Gold price: $43.50 (year high). 177.011 ounces of gold could be purchased with the median income.
1968: median income: $7,700. Gold price: $43.50 (year high). 177.011 ounces of gold could be purchased with the median income.
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I myself should have done alot of this, but just now starting to understand it all a bit more to be able to actually apply it. My dad was great at teaching me to be a man and how to fix stuff. Trading stonks and buying investments was something he was never taught. So neither was I. Having a mentor that is financially savvy would have helped me alot. Part of the problem is that most of use were told to just work hard and we will be fine but thats not the case. I dont think anyone is arguing that making money isnt possible its that you kinda have to have extra money to make money.
I did the same comparison with average income for the same years converted to gold because it is the historically stable metric of value.
It was just as bad or even worse.
This is assuming that you had money to invest at the time, with out money to invest you really cant blame people for not. Alot of it for me has been lack of understanding of the financial markets and not being willing to take risk. My personal problem I know. While I will admit Ive had cash on hand at more then one time to invest where I could have absolutely crushed it. But again not knowing is half the battle. I saw the covid stock crash and wanted to get in on it but I had just bought a house and had my first kid on the way. Kinda hard for someone to justify investing all my savings in that moment in hopes of gaining generational wealth...
At least you see Gen Z is fucked so you most agree to some point that things are not as easy as they once were.
The library has a ton of information. Business clubs, mentorship programs, etc.
I don’t buy into the “use max debt” mantra. I also don’t buy into the “save money” mantra. Get an emergency fund and a six months fund in a high yield savings account; and never save a dollar again beyond that.
Our money is not money. It’s trash. All available funds at the end of your pay period should be put into quality stonks, real estate shares, gold/silver, or other investment opportunities.
Every time the S&P drops 20% or more, and you didn’t lose your job, dump your whole 6 month fund into it. Then rebuild the 6 month fund with current inflation dollars.
Shit, everyone here would be better off if they had taken every available dollar they have ever earned (after mandatory deductions) and bought ammo, components, and quality firearms instead of saving a single penny of it over the last 20 years.
That’s how it works.
At least invest for your children. $200 a month into fractional shares of the S&P 500, or something like VOO or SWPPX with dividends.
There was a 20% drop this year that was a fantastic opportunity to load the S&P.
This is about where my head is at now, even though I agree that shit is fucked. I will be doing exactly this moving forward.
This whole topic is something I’m really concerned about for my kids, and is driving the financial decisions my wife and I make, even though we’re set. We’re both Gen X, who were left to fend for ourselves by working parents.
U.S. Census Bureau data show the median price per square foot for new homes sold in 2023 by region: South ($146.64); Midwest ($156.25); Northeast ($220.95); West ($195.38).
I would mention to adjust that 1986 cost for inflation, which brings it up to $166 - $172/sq ft in today’s dollars, which is within reach of most regions in the US.
A lot of amenities and features have been added to homes since then as well, with improvements in electrical wiring, plumbing, code compliance, and added niceties that did not exist.
So builders and States have set standards based on the higher price point homes and features, and for a time, built larger home plans instead of starters.
A combination of all of these factors has made early-in-working-life employees have less access to home ownership.
One solution I would like to see again are kit homes. You could make a really cool kit home that is better than a lot of the trash erected by hump-and-dump builders, and build it yourself with some limited contractor help.
Parcels have been getting crazy though in the Mountain West region in the cities.
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The only dispute I have with this, is the dollar had gold convertability in 1968. After 1971 when nixon removed the convertability, gold started to get silly on it's pricing. Gold price was no longer tied to the dollar, it became a asset for speculation. A loaf of bread was .21 cents in 1968, 207 loafs and perhaps enough for a coke in change for an ounce of gold in 1968. Hard to nail down the price of a loaf of bread today, it's apparently between $1.81 and $2.68, let's just split the difference and say $2.25. At the moment i'm typing this, gold has a spot price of $3695, or 1642 loaves of todays bread. I use that example not to say your wrong, I just don't agree that your comparison really paints an accurate picture in my opinion.
An ounce of gold would buy you a nice factory custom Winchester rifle in 1888
An ounce of gold will buy you an AI AT in 2025.
My midlife crisis has been racing go karts like an idiot. I love it so much though. I race with a bunch of kids in their 20's, and i've been on their asses hard to start investing now. Just start with whatever they can budget for each month, $10, $100, $200, but budget an amount they can do comfortably, each month until they can do more comfortably each month. When you're 20, you have 40+ years for compounding interest and capital gains to work for you. I tell them that social security is not a retirement plan. It'll keep you from starving to death, but that's about it. I tell them if they do it, they'll thank me later....of course i'll be dead probly, but they'll thank me anyway, lol.
I was looking at parcels to purchase to build a retirement home on in 20 years. Buy now (well, a number of years ago), pay off over the next 20 years, and then the land would be paid for, and then use the sale of our current home, to pay for building the new home on the paid for property, and retire in a brand new house, paid for, in a peaceful, secluded part of the country. About the only thing I can afford now is the really dry, really windy parts of Wyoming where they gotta pipe in sunshine and air.
There's a 1.5 acre parcel just up the street from me, listed for $200K....and that's just for the dirt with grass on it.
For all the guys that want to blame baby boomers, most of them are retired, drooling on themselves in nursing homes, or dead.
Boomers were born from the end of the War up until around 1964, so they are ages 61-79.
As consumers, workers, and contributors to the future, most of them are effectively gone, done with their years of high purchases, trying to live through retirement and not run out of funds before they die.
Older Gen X are already looking at retirement, are in their late 50s into 60, as we were born between 1965-1980. Gen X is a much smaller generation by birth compared with Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Z. Because boomers had more dual-income households, we were mostly abandoned to the state schools, latchkey kids. We have no/very limited trust in institutions unless IQs are really low, or swallowed the slop taught in public school and universities.
The youngest Gen X are ages 45-50 already.
Older millennials are already at mid-life, getting old, experiencing aches and pains, while also suffering from reduced T-levels in males, significant rises in infertility and hormonal imbalances in females. Most older Millennials got into real estate as they were told to, having worked solid employment for a 10-15 years before the COVID-induced inflationary period in housing prices 2023-forward.
Younger millennials who didn’t get into a house and were “waiting for a crash or correction” missed the boat, or are rate-locked into wherever they are currently.
Gen Z are only ages 12-28, so I’m not sure what the expectations are for at least half of them when it comes to housing, other than their parent(s) keep a roof over their heads. The older ones ages 22-28 are in the stage of life where we typically rented or bought tiny starter homes.
Average sq feet by decade in the US:
If you’re 28 and expecting some 2800-3600sq ft house, it’s just not anything that we or previous generations had access to generally. Find a condo or starter home and get in. Refinance when the rates drop, and beat up your mortgage payment.
Drive used cars with higher reliability, lower maintenance issues. I see people buying a lot of stupid vehicles from companies that bank on you pulling into their service dept every year if they can milk you like that.
Just because you can finance a brodozer that looks like a monster truck doesn’t mean you should, if you want a decent house.
Boomers were born from the end of the War up until around 1964, so they are ages 61-79.
As consumers, workers, and contributors to the future, most of them are effectively gone, done with their years of high purchases, trying to live through retirement and not run out of funds before they die.
Older Gen X are already looking at retirement, are in their late 50s into 60, as we were born between 1965-1980. Gen X is a much smaller generation by birth compared with Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Z. Because boomers had more dual-income households, we were mostly abandoned to the state schools, latchkey kids. We have no/very limited trust in institutions unless IQs are really low, or swallowed the slop taught in public school and universities.
The youngest Gen X are ages 45-50 already.
Older millennials are already at mid-life, getting old, experiencing aches and pains, while also suffering from reduced T-levels in males, significant rises in infertility and hormonal imbalances in females. Most older Millennials got into real estate as they were told to, having worked solid employment for a 10-15 years before the COVID-induced inflationary period in housing prices 2023-forward.
Younger millennials who didn’t get into a house and were “waiting for a crash or correction” missed the boat, or are rate-locked into wherever they are currently.
Gen Z are only ages 12-28, so I’m not sure what the expectations are for at least half of them when it comes to housing, other than their parent(s) keep a roof over their heads. The older ones ages 22-28 are in the stage of life where we typically rented or bought tiny starter homes.
Average sq feet by decade in the US:
- 1920: 1,048 square feet
- 1930: 1,129
- 1940: 1,177
- 1950: 983
- 1960: 1,289
- 1970: 1,500
- 1980: 1,740
- 1990: 2,080
- 2000: 2,266
- 2010: 2,392
- 2014: 2,657
- 2024: 2,146
If you’re 28 and expecting some 2800-3600sq ft house, it’s just not anything that we or previous generations had access to generally. Find a condo or starter home and get in. Refinance when the rates drop, and beat up your mortgage payment.
Drive used cars with higher reliability, lower maintenance issues. I see people buying a lot of stupid vehicles from companies that bank on you pulling into their service dept every year if they can milk you like that.
Just because you can finance a brodozer that looks like a monster truck doesn’t mean you should, if you want a decent house.
One of the areas I’m looking starts in the $800k region just for the land.
Several people in 1970s homes in that area are tearing the 70s rambler down, and re-building.
One of my good friends moved her from CA, is an engineer and very talented gunsmith, works in the medical device industry. I think he got his horse property for under $400k, and now it’s well over $1 million. He has ~.9 acre lot, which is huge.
My wife and I have noticed what’s been going on in certain cities in Utah with pricing, and she’s kicking herself for not buying land or property in Alpine or Midway. A lot of got-rocks people have moved into those areas, driving prices through the roof, and they are steals for them because of where they moved from.
This is why we are thinking about the kids and what they’ll be able to afford. We’re big in teaching them about entrepreneurship in homeschooling. There are homeschool young entrepreneur programs and events too that have been good.
I admit that my brain is now fried from spending all day attempting to explain 3phase power generation and distribution to people who willfully refuse understanding, but I don't believe you can simply adjust the 1986 Median home price "by inflation" because real home prices have significantly outpaced dollar inflation during the period from 1986 to current day.
Yes, but I think it’s a combination of home size inflation/growth too.
It takes longer/more man hours and more materials to build a modern home than it did in 2000, 1990, 1980, 1960, etc.
I see a large opportunity in the construction industry in this space to innovate solutions to that, with a combination of automation for subsystems and components, combined with kit houses. Erection time can be cut dramatically, with the owner taking the time to ensure quality of assembly since they’re more invested in its condition than any builder will be.
We also need to get foreign investors out of residential real estate in the US, though home availability/scarcity is the real driving factor in pricing. I’ve seen developments near me of large SFRs that are all owned by a developer who merely rents them out, all right near Utah Lake as well with cool trails and scenic views. Those should all be Single Family owned.
Unless you are investing heavily in assets whether that is a business or equities or real estate or other asset classes then the reality is inflation is lowering your economic status and not increasing. It is hard to keep up with inflation no matter what your income is if you think about what real inflation rates could be and not .government numbers
I’m well aware I’ll never get to retire. Enjoy the casino, they have pudding cups for ya now.
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